Criminal Techniques
by EunEpperson
Summary: By some absolute bad luck, Suzu Iseya got herself involved in the realm of the dark syndicate - The Black Organisation. There she will also meet a mysterious young boy, Edogawa Conan. As much as she refuses to get tangled in such a complicated affair of deceit, betrayal, crime, and romance, the appeal of it is far too great.
1. Chapter 1: Death by Carbonara

**Disclaimer:** **The original series of Detective Conan and its characters are rightfully created and owned by Gosho Aoyama, and I do not claim ownership over them or the world of Detective Conan. I only claim the rights to my original character. This story is merely my invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of Gosho Aoyama's story canon.**

 **Author's Note: Set around file 936 where Scotch made his first appearance. It is my first foray into writing mystery so do cut me some slacks.**

* * *

 _"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes."_

\- Sherlock Holmes

 **Chapter 1: Death by Carbonara**

* * *

 **SNAP**

The camera shutter went off.

After checking the photo, Suzu let out an unsatisfied exhalation.

The carbonara on the table has gone from hot with expressive steaming lustre to quietly tepid when she was eventually pleased with her photos and is ready to eat. She eagerly picks up her forks and twirls the spaghetti to a mouthful.

"Scrumptious!" she erupted with joy so sudden the old couple right to her left similarly erupted; except in startle. Oblivious to that, she helped herself to the greasy bacon covered in copious amounts of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

So captivated by the carbonara, she had to internally berate herself for her oversight and immediately reach out for her notebook and assiduously jotted down several notes.

What she wrote is as follows:

•Fettuccine is well cooked: not too rigid; not too mushy

•No cream is used for carbonara, therefore it is the traditional, authentic preparation

•The sauce consist of unsalted butter, raw eggs and Parmigiano-Reggiano

•No coagulating of eggs, which is good

•Sauce is not excessively oleaginous with the bacon

•Moderate amount of pepper for a hint of spice

My conclusion is a 4.5/5 for Miss Marple's Eatery's carbonara

Highly Recommend – Delicious and reasonably priced

Delighted by her own observations, she resumed eating heartily. After finishing the last bits of bacon that was stubbornly attached to the white ceramic, she paid her food and walked out to the frosty winter night. She tightens her scarf instinctively. Just as she was about to ambulate down the street to allow the sinfully delicious carbonara to digest, her steps were halted by a tall imposing figure and a shorter yet much burlier man coming out from the alleyway beside the eatery.

Their faces were adorned with such a sinister grin they could have well been the devil himself possessing them. It did not seem like they had heeded the presence of Suzu as they just sauntered away towards a dark vintage-looking car. Suzu shielded herself with the wall of the alleyway and mechanically took out her camera.

Thanks to the distance between them, the two mysterious men did not hear the shutter sounds reverberating from her camera.

Suzu only stopped pressing the button when they hastily left as soon as she had the few seconds to take some pictures of them – she was sure she did. She then heard a strained grunt coming from the alleyway. Her heart palpitated.

The alleyway was dark and dingy. And the further she walked into the alleyway, the atmosphere got acutely tense; the temperature also seemed to have plummeted. Then she heard it; the voice that she unmistakably heard from the street.

Concentrating on finding the source of where the noise is coming from, she hears it again, it sounded like the person was saying, "You won't escape this, Gin."

"Good gracious!" Suzu breath paused for a moment when at that moment, she saw a pasty-faced man lifeless on the dilapidated floor not far from her right. He was bleeding so profusely it covered the floor in a puddle of red crimson blood.

Once she saw the gravely wound on his chest, she hastily went towards the man.

"Are you OK, sir? Can you hear me?" She cried out while placing her index and middle finger on his cold neck and wrist. "Don't worry; I'll call the ambulance now."

As if suddenly filled with a surge of miraculous energy, the man uses his remaining strength to swipe away her phone from her hand.

"Not the ambulance," said he in an imploring tone, "you have nothing to do with this. Get away from this place and forget what you have seen, now!" he added critically with a shallow breath which gradually waned and departed from him.

She stood up from the bloodied floor and hopelessly stared at the body. She was nonplussed and she surely did not know what she was supposed to do during this circumstance. She knew that calling the ambulance was too late – should she call the police? But the person made it clear that he was desperate that no one must be aware of his passing, or maybe just his presence

Suzu thought of nothing else more, except to press her camera's button. After a few snaps, she quickly retrieves her phone and ran out of ominous place.

* * *

"Let's go to this place for Lunch," Ran said excitedly, "if Suzu says it's good, it means it's really good!"

"Who is Suzu?" Conan enquired with a lack of interest, but to only entertain the girl.

"Come on, Conan," said Ran, disbelievingly, "Suzu – Suzu Iseya, doesn't that ring a bell? She is a famous journalist. These days she's been travelling around Japan discovering unknown but delicious foods. Even 'Ramen Ogura' got popularised because of her article. She often writes for 'Let's Eat' magazine – just today she wrote about Miss Marple's Eatery. She assured us that the food there is good and cheap. We should go try it out," she rabbited on.

Ran held up the magazine for both Conan and Kogoro to see, "Look, this is her and that is the carbonara she just ate yesterday."

Kogoro fell off his chair and snatched the magazine out of Ran's hand, "Beautiful!" Kogoro exclaimed in a sing-song voice.

"Right? Sonoko also said so –" Ran paused for a moment, "well, that is not the point, dad!" She snatched back the magazine from her father's grip.

Mouri Kogoro straightened himself and said, "What I meant to say was – there is no harm trying out a new place to eat since Poirot Café is close for the week," Ran smiled triumphantly leaving Conan to sigh at their behaviour.

 _So typical_ – Conan thought to himself.

The distance to Miss Marple's Eatery was not that far so they decided to walk there – not that they have any other mode of transport.

Upon reaching there, they were greeted with loud sirens and a very disgruntled voice of Inspector Megure, "not you again," said him not liking the turn of events.

"It's like God is telling me to do my duty – because I am the one and only Great Detective that leaves no case unsolved! Mouri Kogorou is here to give you assistance!" Mouri Kogoro chortled in his own exuberance.

"More like _Death God_ ," Inspector Megure mumbled to himself.

Miss Marple's Eatery was cordoned off by yellow police tape but Conan, confident as he always is, walked straight into the eatery despite the police officer's and Ran's chivvies.

Once inside, Conan's eyes were led to a gangling, almost emaciated man sprawled across the floor close to the table nearest to the glass window. The man had his hands on his neck like he had been struggling from suffocation.

Conan saw a plate of almost-finished carbonara on the table where the man previously occupied, then he scrutinised the body. He sniffed the mouth and astutely noted the subtle bitter almond smell of cyanide. Upon further analyzation, he detected an unusual smudge on the victims –

"Hey! What do you think you're doing, Conan?!" Mouri Kogoro seizes Conan by his collar and brusquely throws him aside. Conan was going to answer impertinently until he heard a lady's voice, "are you OK, boy?" He looked at the lady and let out an unintelligible respond of, "y-you-"

"Is that S-S-Suzu Iseya?" Ran sprints through the police towards Conan and Suzu with unbridled joy but was masked with concern to fit the context of the scene.

"Suzu?" Mouri Kogoro turned his head, and post-haste, his eyes sparkled in the purest form of rapture.

Almost like he had a split personality, his usual indolent (and rather vacuous) disposition did an 180-degree turn. Now, Mouri Kogoro comported a histrionic gentleman disposition with a repulsively ingratiating face.

Conan made an inaudible noise that resembled a sick man regurgitating. Ran, on the other hand, did not react similarly. Before Mouri Kogoro could unabashedly do a pantomime curtsy, Ran decided to stop her father from further mortifying himself.

"Dad," she slowly enunciated her words in a doomy, sweet, dulcet voice.

Mouri Kogoro knew what the nuances of that voice meant.

Gulping his saliva hesitantly, he gingerly introduces himself to Suzu, "I am the Greatest Detective, Mouri Kogoro if you're in need of any help you are free to call me anytime. Here's my name card." He takes out a garishly reflective gold card. Suzu reciprocated and gave out her name card.

"Dad is so embarrassing," Ran hid her face behind her hands, "what's more, it's in front of Iseya Suzu."

Suzu has heard of the name Mouri Kogorou multiples times before – why wouldn't she? He was considered to be the most commercial sleuth in the 21st century after the sudden disappearance of the genius high school sleuth, Kudo Shinichi.

However, now, the widely acclaimed Mouri Kogoro did not appear the same as how she had preconceived him to be; smart, cool and composed. Whatever the case is, he is still the guy who unravels the inexplicable.

"I am Suzu Iseya, nice to meet you Mouri Kogoro, it is an absolute honour." She bowed her head. "But why are you back here?" Ran asked inquisitively. Taken by surprise and at lost for words for a moment or two, Suzu spoke a random slur of words, "oh, that I can't disclose. Maybe the carbonara was too addictive?"

She then went off at a tangent to divert their attention and said, "and it turns out that I got involved in a troublesome case right now."

"Yes, she is one of our main suspects," Megure said as he brought with him, four other peoples. "M-main suspect?" Mouri Kogoro exclaimed with mouth hanged opened incredulously.

"Unfortunately so, but protocol still remains without the interference of subjective influence. She is just one one of the other four suspects," Inspector Megure said earnestly.

"The victim's death was by cyanide poisoning and it was placed in the carbonara," said he as he gestured officer Takagi to introduce the probable culprits, and Conan studied them carefully.

The first man that was introduced was the shortest of the four. His name is Sugita Heizo, 65, food critic. He is a rather stout old man wearing a scrawny, metallic-gold prescription glasses; nearly bald; dull blue eyes. It was either his immaculate attire or his demeanour that emanates a sense of his antiquated nature.

The second was a youthful girl: Haruto Otonari, 19, student. She is slightly taller than Sugita by an inch. She was in all aspects unlike Sugita, she was sylphlike – Conan deduced that she was probably a gymnast – thick, healthy hair and brilliant blue eyes. She was dressed in today's fashionable standard clothes.

The third is Matsumoto Kiyoshi, 36, waiter of Miss Marple's Eatery. He is an average height Japanese man with a bulky physique. His dark brown eyes were fierce and ready for defiance but his hair said otherwise; it was gelled up neatly leaving no strands of hair behind. To boot, His attire was spick and span with evident iron folds.

The fourth is Yajiro Seiji, 45, chef of Miss Marple's Eatery. He is thought to be the most suspicious of all as he was the one who prepared the carbonara for the victim. He is as stout as Sugita but taller than him – height similar to Kiyoshi. He has dark tousled hair and the uniform he wore was bedraggled and head-to-toe covered in some sort of grime. Conan wondered if he is indeed a qualified chef.

And lastly, Iseya Suzu, 27, journalist. She is, by estimation, same height as Kiyoshi. Her eyes were of chestnut brown and her hair was wavy with fringes. She was casually clothed in a mundane winter fashion. However, one thing that did not escape Conan's observations was her boots; it bore the same sludge as Seiji, the chef.

"The victim died at approximately 11:45 in the late morning and of everyone in the eatery, these are the five who had come into contact with the victim. Not to mention, all of them have some form of motive towards the victim," officer Takagi read off from his police notebook.

"What motive does Suzu hold towards the victim?" Mouri Kogoro intercepted impetuously almost as if he wanted to ask it for the longest time already. "Loosen up, Mouri. Be patient and everything will be expounded accurately," investigator Megure assured Mouri Kogoro, however with an undertone of latent annoyance.

Officer Takagi cleared his throat and continues reading off his police notepad, "Here is the plausible timeline as accounted by witnesses: the victim, Okamura Heikichi, arrived at Miss Marple's Eatery at 10:50 in the morning. He took a sit at his usual spot – the table near the glass window – and ordered a plate of carbonara from the waiter, Kiyoshi Matsumoto. The order took about 10 minutes or more to prepare as provided by Kiyoshi, and at the interval, Iseya Suzu stepped into the eatery. Witness allege that as soon as Miss Iseya took her seat, the victim accosted her. Customers were disconcerted because soon the victim started reprimanding Miss Iseya, and that was at 10:55; before the victim's carbonara was served.

"Regular customer said that the victim was a very tumultuous and irrational person, so when he started hauling Miss Iseya over the coals, they did not dare to interfere," Takagi said dutifully. Conan thought for a moment and asked, "What was the altercation about?"

"About that – witnesses said it was something about Miss Iseya's carbonara write-up – that her write-up was inaccurate," Takagi squatted to Conan and said while looking at his police notebook. "What was inaccurate about her write-up?" Conan pressed.

"Hey! Conan, don't interfere the police job," Mouri Kogoro rebuked Conan again as Takagi was about to answer Conan's question. Just trying to help decipher the mystery, great detective, Conan thought to himself sardonically.

Takagi laughed off, deftly flipping the pages to resume, "After a while, the victim was placated when miss Haruto Otonari took courage and interposed – "

"Of course I had to do it. Nobody dared to stop him," Haruto unthinkingly expressed with her index finger pointing sharply at Takagi, which astonished him into mumchance. Haruto then shyly glanced at Suzu and said, "and he was hounding Miss Iseya when she did nothing wrong."

Suzu gave a fleeting smile of gratitude to the young girl, who flustered immediately. Suzu was completely aware of to the reason of the victim's belligerence earlier on and it was as what the police has mentioned – her review of Miss Marple's Eatery. The man was so adamant that her description was downright erroneous; he kept saying along the lines of, "the recipe is wrong you bogus" and "I've been a regular customer here for ages; I know every minute detail of the food here".

If there was one thing Suzu was sure to not let her down, it was her impeccable palate. And she was undeniably sure the carbonara was how she had described it to be. But the discrepancy of the carbonara recipe did bother her.

This time, Takagi cleared his throat deliberately louder, "If I can continue, please?" Haruto went back to her position and Takagi went on, "Now where was I? Ah, Haruto Otonari interposed and the altercation ceased. Some minutes later, the victim's plate arrived at his table at 11:10 a.m. It didn't take long till he left his table. Accordingly to witnesses, he took his plate of carbonara to the kitchen and came out with the same plate."

"We deduce that the there was two plates of carbonara and the second one caused the death," Inspector Megure surmised, "we suspected that chef Seiji was the culprit but he denied that he was not in the kitchen when the victim was in there and insisted for a piece of solid evidence if we want to incarcerate him for an offence he did not execute. And because our hypothesis is still feeble and that there are many alternate ways to poison the victim, we distilled those who had the closest contact with the victim and also motives towards the victim."

"Kiyoshi Matsumoto was an ex-classmate of the victim and he was one of the closest to the victim, so he might have a chance to poison him; Haruto Otonari, no history with the victim, but was found loitering around the victim during his demise; Sugita Heizo, had a feud with victim, the cause was a clash in Mr Sugita's food critique and the victims opinion, and Mr Sugita was sitting closest to the victim, which gives him ample time to poison him; Iseya Suzu, no history with the victim, but after the ignominious altercation and the strong demurral from the victim, she might have developed a motive, and she was the first to leave the scene right after the death," Takagi completed his stream of notes with a long expiration.

Conan assimilated all the facts and cranked up his brain. By crime annals, there is a consistent pattern where the person who had had a history with the victim is the most liable to be the murderer – so far, it is Kiyoshi Matsumoto. Unfortunately, the lack of evidence makes it unfeasible to incriminate him.

In his train of thoughts, he suddenly remembered something. He hurried to the victim. Then he saw it: the smudge on the victim's sleeve. He investigated closer and queried Officer Tome, "Mr Tome, what is this white substance?" Officer Tome took out a magnifying glass, used his gloved finger to touch it and concluded, "It seems like this is carbonara sauce."

Conan let out a satisfied grin – I knew it.

From a distance, Suzu could see a short, elementary school boy clad in a dark blue suit with a conspicuous red bow tie roving about the eatery and soberly questioning officers, forensics and suspects.

 _Odd_.

Suzu had read about the boy in the news before; all his successful captures of the elusive, Kaito Kid. She had always thought it was Mouri Kogorou who had given his assistance to the young boy but it appears to be on the contrary.

She then saw him approaching her. She mechanically opened her mouth, "Is there something you need, little detective?"

"A-about the carbonara," Conan put on his guileless façade, and in the most petulant manner said, "does it taste good? I never tried it before."

Placidly, Suzu replied, "Well, it's the best that I've tried so far in Beika Street – I'm sure my taste proofs me right all the time."

Just in time, Ran saw Conan and went to give him a few words of reproach. Then, Conan saw the 'Let's Eat' magazine on Ran's hand. He asked if he could have it and with Ran's approval, he studied it.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Iseya Suzu. I'm Mouri Ran and this is an acquaintance of ours, Edogawa Conan," Ran pauses for a moment and had to muster some self-assurance to continue, "I'm your big fan! "

Feeling slightly diffident from the spontaneous compliment, Suzu awkwardly smiles, "Ah, a fan of mine – I'm so honoured. You can call me Suzu." Suzu shortly mused if that was unforthcoming of her, but Ran's next reply relaxes her.

"Thank you, Suzu!"

Ran turned around to call for Conan but he was not there; Conan was in the kitchen.

As Conan was poring over the kitchen, he heard a boastful bellow, "Inspector Megure, I know who the murderer is!" At that, everyone looked at Mouri Kogorou expectantly. Once he was content with the attention, he propounded his theory, "The murderer is Yajiro Seiji – you!"

"The only person fully capable of doing such deed is none other than you. Nothing can escape this great detective's eyes," Mouri Kogoro smirked with an overflowing amount of smugness, "You previously had a kind of disagreement with the victim and he besmirched your pride. You felt livid and thought of murdering him. You saw him coming in today and you prepared his dish with poison in it."

Conan sweat-dropped.

Seiji, on the other hand, was crossed at the accusation, "How dare you!? Okamura was my loyal customer for many years – we never got into any disagreements before," said Seiji impatiently.

"Mouri…" said Inspector Megure, "Your hypothesis has too many holes in it."

Everyone who was so attentive to Mouri Kogoro just seconds before had now adorned a mixture of confused and frustrated expression.

"Mouri, your hypothesis does not explain why he went back to the kitchen and came back with another plate of carbonara. Second, as Seji had mentioned, the victim was a loyal customer that appreciates his food," said Inspector Megure.

The complacency within Mouri Kogoro diminished in seconds, and it was his turn to open his mouth vacuously.

Suzu could not believe her ears; the thought-to-be intelligent sleuth is making such an explicit blunder. This went far beyond paradoxical. Could it be the news was wrong about him?

Still, in the kitchen, Conan smiled at himself as he tasted the residual carbonara sauce on the pan that was discreetly placed aside by someone. With a little flick of his nifty wristwatch, the tranquillizer dart set off to rest on the nape of Mouri Kogoro's neck.

Floundering and yelping he goes, he finally slumped directly on a chair. "There is only one person capable of committing such an act," Conan spoke through his voice-changing bowtie. Inspector Megure and Officer Takagi lidded up and in synchronisation, said, "the real Mouri Kogorou is here!"

"First, let me explain the sequence of the event. The victim arrives at Miss Marple's Eatery and ordered carbonara. He ate it and went back to the kitchen. Why did he have to that? Something must have been so peculiar in the carbonara that he had to personally go to the kitchen. But why make a beeline to the kitchen when you can summon a waiter? It was because he was personally acquainted with the chef.

"As we all already know, the victim was a frequent and loyal patron. If a person of his kind – so terribly blunt and uninhibited – finds any negligible disaccord within the eatery, I'm certain he will not keep quiet about it."

"What do you mean by that, Mouri?" Inspector Megure enquiries. It only took moments before it dawned on him, "you don't mean –

"Yes, I do mean the carbonara," Mouri Kogorou completed Inspector Megure's revelation, and continued, "the taste of the carbonara did not taste quite the same, and that is when Miss Iseya comes into the eatery.

"The reason to why the victim got so infuriated when he saw her was indeed because of her write-up," Suzu frowned at that, "the victim clearly had great knowledge of how Miss Marple's Eatery facilitates and that does not omit his full comprehension of the entire eatery's menu.

"Chef Seiji, if you could so kindly tell us what is the recipe, or more importantly, the ingredients needed for the carbonara," Mouri Kogoro asked.

Tentatively, Seiji said, " Fettuccine pasta, bacon, Parmigiano-Reggiano, unsalted butter," Suzu nodded her head, " raw eggs and cream." At that, Suzu stopped nodding her head.

"Now, food critic Sugita Heizo, how would you describe the carbonara pasta you had earlier on?" Mouri Kogoro enquired.

In a self-important manner, he said, "The carbonara that I had certainly did not have the traditional Italian flair and palate."

"Are you saying that my descriptions are wrong of the carbonara that I had in this same eatery?" Suzu indignantly challenged.

"I know what I ate, Miss," Sugita provoked.

Suzu, however, did not reply but she contemplated on what was happening; a carbonara with cream and another without. Did they eat an entirely different plate of carbonara? Did the eatery have another chef at night whose preparation was so different to the one during daylight?

"The fact is now clear that what both of you ate was different despite the similar name," Mouri Kogoro stated, "and it appears that the victim also consumed a different carbonara from Miss Iseya."

"That's why he was so mad," Suzu realised.

"I knew it; Suzu can never be wrong on her descriptions!" Haruto burst in to relieve.

"But I don't remember having another chef besides me," a bemused Seiji said scratching his head.

"Here, we have reached the mystery, one which I will reveal the murderer," said Mouri Kogoro, "The murderer is the one who rustled up Miss Iseya's carbonara and he is a person highly proficient in cooking to have much impressed Miss Iseya, and the murderer does not cook when there is a lot of customers."

Suzu thought to herself – now that I think about it, the previous night when I ate at Miss Marple's Eatery, it was near closing time and it was very much vacant.

"This is how it went: the murderer had already beforehand prepared his version of his carbonara and let it be served to the victim, and because the victim knew all too well the carbonara was not the authentic 'Miss Marple's Eatery ' style of carbonara, he stormed towards the kitchen with the plate in hand. He was expecting to see chef Seiji there but instead he saw another plate of carbonara in a microwave oven. The murderer wanted the plate to be noticeable yet still warm so he placed it in a microwave oven but left it opened so the victim could see it. The victim was sceptical, but he couldn't resist therefore he took a single strand of fettuccine to taste it and so delighted he was, he took the plate back to his table. It was only a matter of time before he eats to the bottom of the plate where there is the cyanide poisoning," Mouri Kogoro stated without a hint of hesitation.

Suzu gaped in unadulterated marvel. She was impressed by the great sleuth; even without any evidence produced, he was still able to sound so convincing.

"This murderer is a person who knows this Eatery well enough to prepare a dish and is also a person who've known the victim's personality all too well to exploit it, and this person is Kiyoshi Matsumoto," Conan asserted through his bowtie.

"Don't joke around, Mr Detective; it is only your supposition, you don't have any evidence to prove that I am the murderer. Plus, that numpty chef could also have been the murderer," Kiyoshi defied rigidly.

"You want evidence? I have it," Mouri Kogorou said positively, "if you deny that the victim only had one plate of carbonara I can prove you wrong."

"Mr Tome!" Mouri Kogoro cried out.

"Just now Conan pointed out that there was something on the victim's sleeve so I checked and found out it was actually carbonara sauce. I send it to forensic together with the carbonara that was prepared by chef Seiji to check for the compounds and discovered that the one on the sleeve contained no cream while the other did," Tome did his report quickly.

Kiyoshi faltered and Mouri Kogoro continued, "How do you explain that? If there is one chef with one recipe, how did he produce another of a different kind? I presume you thought your plan was to go smoothly if you just drain the pasta down the sink and wash it squeaky clean – the thought of a slip never occurred to you didn't it?"

"Yes, it was me who murdered that imbecile! He ruined my dreams of becoming a chef. I was on my interview to enter the most prestigious cooking school but he rejected me. I first blamed myself that I was too inept but soon I realised he got bribed into letting another rich son in instead of me. That man was so obsessed and blinded by money that he doesn't even know how to discern good food!" Kiyoshi expressed irrationally.

"I was so happy when I saw Miss Iseya praising my carbonara, but what had to be had to be done. When I went for an interview to become a trainee chef in Miss Marple's Eatery, I quickly found out that Okamura was the proprietor of the Eatery. He saw me, recognised me and he didn't even bat an eye and placed me as a mere waiter. And the result? A chef that can't even cook a proper dish," Kiyoshi scowled at Seiji, " – no wonder this eatery had no other customers before Miss Iseya was here," Kiyoshi concluded his final statement before being taken away by officer Takagi.

As Suzu was walking towards Mouri Kogorou to congratulate his magnificent deductions, her track was stopped by an agitated Conan.

"What's the matter, Conan?" Suzu stared at him in puzzlement. "Uncle Kogoro must not be bothered after a case because his mental juices are strained and need to rest," Conan lied between his breath.

"On another topic, why are your boots so dirty, Miss Suzu?" This time it was her turn to lie, "Oh, I think I must have stepped into a puddle of soot on my way here," said Suzu while checking her boots to show ignorance.

"I don't think I have any business here so I'll get going – bye!" Suzu bid him goodbye curtly.

Conan frowned in suspicion, and as soon as Seiji came into sight, he asked, "Uncle, how did you dirty your shoe?"

"I think I was outside smoking when I was on break – just behind the eatery," said Seiji.

Conan ran into the alleyway. To his surprise, he saw a blonde-haired lady coming to view.

"Jodie-sensei?!" Conan exclaimed.

"I knew you would be here; I saw Ran outside the eatery and knew automatically you'll be inside," said she furtively.

Catching her secretive manner, Conan asked in a hushed tone, "What are you doing here?"

Jodie said sombrely, "one of our men was found dead here just last night. We received message last night and expeditiously set out to collect his body before anyone sees him, however, to our endless consternation, his body vanished upon our arrival."

"Was it a job by them?" Conan's eyes kindled intensely.

"As inferred by the blood spatter, it was a single, accurate shot possibly close to the heart. Very brief and clean job done without any evidence of careless amateur shooter – it definitely is them" said Jodie, fuming with ire.

"We shouldn't talk here," Jodie composed and gestured Conan to follow but Conan's eyes were still focussed on the ground. After a while, he eventually went out of the alley.

Jodie led Conan to a silver-white Mercedes CLK320 that was parked far away from Miss Marple's Café.

"I'll explain everything to you inside," said Jodie.

 **TBC**

* * *

━━━━ **Suzu's Food Feature** ━━━━

Today's special food feature is _Carbonara_. Carbonara is Suzu's best-loved Italian pasta dish; she loves cheese and juicy bacon. Suzu's recommendation is to not use heavy cream as the carbonara sauce. The authentic sauce recipe would only require virgin olive oil or butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan, a single clove of garlic, cracked peppers, three eggs, and pork bacon or pancetta - it is that simple. Suzu also has a halal alternative: instead of using pork bacon, you can use turkey bacon or any meat with high-fat content to produce grease.

 _That is all for Suzu's Food Feature!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Sweet Death

**Author's Note: This chapter would be a _long_ one. I did vacillate upon separating this chapter into parts or to just keep it as a whole but ultimately I preferred to have a long one. My main concern was that you, the readers would find it tedious and boring, so I had to edit this chapter to ensure that it is immersive. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 _ **As**_ _ **always, premise gives you validity but not the entire truth.**_

* * *

 _"There's only one truth"_

 _-Kudo Shinichi_

 **Chapter 2: The Sweet Death**

* * *

Soon after Suzu left Miss Marple's Eatery, the air in which is so unsettling, made the hair at the back of her neck stand. She was not sure if it was the chilly winter to be blamed or that something, or rather; _someone_ was treading on her heels.

She had to go around multiple store corners innumerable times and journey to crowded areas to successfully off-track her stalker before she could head to home.

When she finally reached home, she, in a flurry, securely bolt every of the locks on the door. Her eyes instinctively shifted towards the SD card resting on her desk. In a very possessive manner, she gripped the SD card so tightly it was sure to leave an imprint on her palm.

Suzu felt like she had just perpetrated a serious crime, and her heart felt like it was laden with so much guilt that it was going to pour out. The one problem is she was not too sure on what wrong she did. Was it because she shrugged off the dying man and left without calling the police, or was it because she had witnessed something that she should not?

Disorganised and highly stressed by the previous night's event, she flopped onto her chair and contemplated to rationalise.

A nearly dead man alone in the dingiest and most the isolated part of the street with a perilous wound to his heart; two suspicious men just so happens to come out of that same alleyway.

How could she be so blind? It was so evident that they were culpable for the man's death.

She sat properly on her chair and switched on her laptop. She then carefully slotted her SD card into the card reader. With a few clicks of her mouse, the picture of the two dubious men materialises to her view.

Their faces were as clear as daylight. At a completely different context, Suzu would be singing praises to herself for being able to masterly take such a proper photo, but, now, Suzu felt a chilling shiver down her spine.

Now that she undoubtedly had the pictures that could incriminate the two man for their crime, her mind was meandering on the next course of action she should take. Her eyes then led her to a flashy golden name card. It turns out she got help after all _._

 **ll**

In the car, Conan took notice of James Black – he then knew the situation was a consequential one; if an FBI superior is present, it was no longer a simple, trivial matter.

"The Black Organisation is on the move again," said Jodie, sternly, "we are not sure what their objective is. We were going to investigate our dead man to garner some clues, but before we reached there, his body was already gone. What we know is that the dead man was not sent to the Japanese police. "

"You don't think it's a job by the Black Organisation?" Conan enquired.

"Most probable," said Jodie.

"Who was the dead man?"

"He was a spy working for us. He infiltrated the Black Organisation but was not positioned as a very high ranking member so the information reported to us were scant," said James with a disappointment in his voice, "he was ambitious and very committed to the FBI, but he have an inherent shortcoming of acting on his whim," James shook his head with eyes shut.

"We reckon that in this case, he was acting in desperation to bait for more information from the Black Organisation. Unfortunately, he was facing the wrong people to challenge," said a very stoic James.

"So the FBI has been exposed," Conan added sotto voce.

 **ll**

The night was a consuming one for Conan, for the thought that the Black Organisation is back, and he could finally confront them, and more importantly, get his body back. No matter how hard he tried or did not even try to close his eyes for the night it was all futile.

Soon, the break of day came in, and everyone who had a peaceful slumber would wake up. However, not this boy who had spent the entire night eyes opened till it was dry. The blazing morning sunshine peeked through the curtain to wake up his senses.

"Good Morning," Ran piped in, full of vim and vigour into the room. Mouri Kogoro stirred in his dreams, and Conan rubbed his eyes and yawned to reciprocate.

"Today I won't be cooking breakfast; I have karate practice going on now until night. Poirot Café is opened – apparently, the manager's week was supposed to be spent at Haido City Hotel but he accidentally booked for only 5 days thinking that there were only 5 days in a week," Ran snickered, "dad can bring Conan there for breakfast," said Ran as she hurried down.

Conan languidly wends his way to the toilet to freshen and dress. Dissimilarly, the older man in the room was still in the stage of rapid eye movement sleep and did not move a single inch. It only took another hour and a half for Mouri Kogorou to unclutter his hungover self before they could head to Poirot Café.

Once in the Poirot Café, Conan was expecting to see Amuro so that he could have a talk with him, but when he asked Azusa for his whereabouts, she evasively said Amuro was on leave. Conan wondered if this got to do with the disappearance of the dead body.

They took a seat at their usual spot and ordered breakfast. Conan helped himself with a heavy, full English breakfast, while Mouri Kogorou opted for something with caffeine to alleviate his headache. He chose to order a good cuppa café noisette.

As Conan was about to nosh the fried, greasy sausage, from the peripheral of his eyes, he saw a familiar looking girl outside. She was staring intensely at Mouri Kogoro's office. Conan could tell that she was reluctant, for she was outwardly clutching her knuckles rather tightly that it became pallid.

"Uncle Kogoro," Conan called out, "isn't that Miss Suzu? What is she doing here?"

Mouri Kogoro looked up with a jaded face, which soon flushed in the shade of a high school girl's red cheeks.

"Suzu-chan!"

The entire diners in the café jerked away from their breakfast and angrily looked up at Kogoro while Conan momentarily wished he was not sitting beside the said man. Nothing could ever compete to how embarrassing Mouri Kogoro acted.

Excitedly, Mouri Kogorou rushed out of the café, and zealously greeted Suzu. Mouri Kogoro's unexpected appearance made Suzu surprised, and she was slightly discomforted by Mouri Kogoro look of fawning awe as he stared at her.

Suzu was sitting on the fence at first to seek assistance from Mouri Kogoro about the pictures, but she knew better than herself that secrets will eventually be divulged and there is no point to persist to hiding. Thus, she accepted Mouri Kogoro's suggestion to join them in the café.

There, she saw the smart kid again. She was not sure how she reached the conclusion that he was beyond smart, yet she just knew – without evidence and just based on feelings – that he was a very precocious, erudite kid, and that he was no ordinary kid.

"Thank you for letting me join your breakfast," said Suzu.

"Order what you want – it'll all be on me," said Mouri Kogoro, gushingly.

"That is very kind of you. In that case," Suzu run through the menu, and said, "I'll just have a cuppa mocha breve." Even though the man gave her the full liberty to please herself with anything on the menu, which is full of mouth-watering foods, she would rather not order the continental breakfast platter with an illustrious man's money.

When Suzu's mocha breve was served, Conan cut to the chase and raised the subject, "Miss Suzu, you were standing outside of Uncle Mouri's office; do you have a business with him?"

Mouri Kogoro looked like he was about to protest to Conan for his brusqueness, but he was equally interested to know what Suzu was concerned about.

"Well, you see, I have a conundrum, however, I feel like this problem is not appropriate to be discussed in such a public area," Suzu looked around apprehensively, and she said in a low voice, directed to Mouri Kogoro, "I'd rather have a _tête-à-tête_."

"I understand that you are a busy man with an extraordinary brain that people wish to covet, and time is probably scarce for you –" at that, Conan choked on his toast bread. "I am ready to pay you the amount you desire as my problem is of the greatest trouble."

"I am sure Uncle Kogoro has all the time in the world," inputted Conan in an as-a-matter-of-fact fashion.

Immediately, Conan's head was assaulted with a solid smack. In between Mouri Kogoro's assaults, a loud wail reverberated throughout the insides of Poirot Café. The diners paused, and look at the origin of the high-pitch cry. At the entrance, there stood a young boy almost of the similar age as Conan.

"M-mommy has been a-attack!" The little boy wailed again, this time harder and louder.

Suzu took no time to approach the little boy, and in a very motherly affection, placate him. The little boy's mucus was an unstoppable waterfall, but his tears, in time to come, did stop. She then guided him towards the table which Conan and Mouri Kogoro was occupying.

"What's the matter, little boy?" Said Suzu with a voice suffused with genuine solicitude.

"Mommy was attacked by baddies."

"Did you see who attacked her?" Mouri Kogoro dubiously asked.

"Black…" The little boy whispered.

The colours from Conan's face drained out in seconds, and flashes of emotions consumed Conan's mind instantaneously. Then, the memory of Gin's bloodthirsty face made only one emotion primary: anger.

Thankfully, Mouri Kogoro snapped Conan out of his trance with a peevish voice, "How do you expect that would help you find your mother?"

The little boy eyes started to gloss. Suzu then sensed that Mouri Kogoro's abrasiveness to the little boy's inconsequential clue was engendering yet another endless wail from the little boy. Instinctively, she gently smiled at the little boy and asked, "What is your name, little boy?"

"Jiro," said the little boy, holding back his tears.

"Where did you and your mommy go before coming here?" asked Suzu, but the boy showed no signs of answering.

"Were you at Beika Park?" interjected Conan. Jiro gaped at the other boy. To Jiro's greatest astonishment, Conan had hit the nail. Suzu raised her eyebrows and asked, "How did you know that?"

"I first observed that he was wearing a baseball cap. One does not wear a cap in the indoor unless it is for fashion but considering his age, personal appearance is only extraneous. Therefore, I surmised he was at outdoors. Secondly, I eliminate the impossible to where he might actually be. Japan is so vast and he could be anywhere outdoors, but since he is capable of reaching to Poirot Café without much perspiration, it shows that the destination is quite close – thus it is not outside Beika. I excluded that he could have taken a taxi as no vehicles were seen when we first saw him. I also noted that he is carrying a backpack, which indicates that he is packed for a long day out. And I also overheard Genta blathering on about a Kamen Yaiba festival taking place in Beika Park today. I then concluded that he could have been at Beika Park," said Conan coolly.

"So, Jiro-kun, were you at Beika Park with your mother?" Asked Suzu anticipating a nod, and she received it.

"Amazing – How in the world did you do that, Conan-kun?" said open-mouthed Suzu as she faces Conan, dazzled with wonderment. Mouri Kogoro on the other hand snorted.

"I-it is thanks to Uncle Kogoro; he really taught me a lot," Conan laughed off thinking that he might have said too much.

"Ha! The great Mouri Kogoro influence really must have gotten you," said Mouri Kogoro with patent, unabashed display of triumph – of which he did not achieve through the means of himself. To that, Conan internally gave a dry and unimpressed laugh.

"How was she attacked?" Conan questioned further.

Jiro took a while to recollect and said, "That person was holding a bright thing – like a lightning!"

Mouri Kogoro's eyes rounded. He quickly cried for Azusa to phone in for Officer Takagi. "She was attacked by a stun gun. The attackers must have predicted resistance and would show no clemency to subdue her," he reckoned.

"The fact that they hadn't used a gun would have meant that they would need her for their benefit," Conan suggested.

"But don't kidnapping go the other way around? Why kidnap the mother instead of the more vulnerable child?" Suzu gave a perplexed look. Never has she ever heard of such a bizarre and irregular scheme from a kidnapper to abduct a fully-grown adult capable of defending herself. Was it intentional?

"The motive is not money – what in the world do they want, then?" Conan enquired to himself curiously. "It can't be –" His eyes narrowed with a glint of profound impossibility.

"Wait a second –" Mouri Kogoro paused for a moment and continued, bemusedly, "How did this boy even know how to get to here?" The little boy remained silent while the rest conjured a big question mark in their head.

 **ll**

"Your mother has been kidnapped by a man dressed in black at Beika Park – am I correct?" Takagi asked, and Jiro silently nodded his head. "It seems like we have to go to Beika Park for more clues. What worries me is what the kidnapper would do next to the victim if its motive is not money," Takagi exhaled.

"If it is not money," Conan said with a shade of perturbation, "then it must be something along the lines of revenge – don't you think so?"

The word revenge had never boded well in Suzu's repertoire of knowledge. In every mystery novels she buries herself in every night, a person would never banish one's personal abhorrence and turn a blind eye to reality. If there is one thing this kind of people yearns for more than anything, it is a sweet revenge.

"What revenge does the perpetrator want?" Suzu inadvertently blurted out her thought, which causes Officer Takagi to swing his head back to glance at her. The expression that followed next on Takagi's face contorted into an impression of surprise.

"M-miss Iseya, since when did you arrive here?!" Takagi faltered. Suzu does not usually consider herself as a person with excessive concern with her pride – in actual fact, she does not give a hoot about pride – but she cannot help but feel somewhat wounded by Takagi's question, which insinuates that Suzu's presence is that exiguous.

"Miss Suzu has been here with us all the time," pointed out Conan as if it was the most obvious thing on Earth.

Thankfully, Takagi, even as obtuse as he exhibits himself as realised what he just said and kept his mouth close. Then he opened his mouth again to answer Suzu's question, "There is many kinds of revenge: the simple revenge, predator or prey revenge, fantasy revenge, transformative revenge, honour revenge, collective revenge, constructive revenge, poetic justice, symbolic punishment –"

"Whatever the matter is, we need to go to Beika Park for more clues," interjected an impatient Conan, not wanting Takagi to start waffling on.

 **ll**

Beika Park at the moment was certainly not a congenial one for the older mass; sounds of clamorous, rowdy kids and the intractable jostling crowd would sure be the last of anybody's choice – especially of Mouri Kogoro.

Precisely as they all reached Beika Park, Mouri Kogoro, at the drop of a hat, firmly established that he hated Beika Park and noisy brats.

"What's wrong with all these brats? It's like Conan times a hundred," Mouri Kogoro petulantly cavilled.

Conan disregarded Mouri Kogoro's remark and asked Jiro, "Where were you when your mum was attacked?" Jiro contemplated and with his hands aloft and flourishing, he did a flapping movement.

"Is it a bird or a chicken?" Takagi hazarded a guess.

"Could it be a chicken?" Conan asked Jiro and he nodded his head avidly. "Don't tell me it's the Teitan Fried Chicken mascot?" Yet again, Jiro was astounded by Conan capability of knowing everything going on in his head.

Jiro was so excitedly inquisitive to how Conan was able to know everything that when he asked Conan, his voice raised up to as loud as the mob.

"How do you know all this?" Jiro asked enthusiastically.

"Because as we were walking, I saw a huge flaming red chicken mascot and coincidentally, your fingers had some residual remnants of white sauce – just simply an observation," said Conan.

"We are the same age aren't we?" Jiro asked with eyes glimmering. His question was of mere curiosity but Conan could not help to think that he was making an unintentional allusion to his real age. However – and luckily for Conan – Takagi spotted the mascot they were talking about.

"Hey! Is that not the chicken?" Takagi exclaimed as he pointed at the chicken mascot located at a small sheltered booth crowded with peckish children.

"As expected from Teitan Fried Chicken; I tasted their chicken and it is of the best I had for a very long time. And look, I even gave them a full score of five over five," said Suzu as she took out her leather bound notebook from her shoulder bag.

"Jiro had five chicken drumsticks today!" he proudly boasted with five fingers aloft.

Takagi blithely engaged in the chinwag and opined, rather boastfully too, "I had the entire bucket of chicken. I tried one, and the fried chicken bedaubed with tangy tartar sauce was so moreish I couldn't stop pigging out!"

So absorbed by the chicken, Suzu, Jiro and Takagi went into the same reverie with slaver running down from the corner of their mouth. Conan had to nudge Takagi's leg to bring him back to reality.

Quickly, Takagi composed his professional self. "So, judging that Jiro and his mother were last there, and there were certainly a lot of people there, I'm sure there will be witnesses," said Takagi duly.

With that, Takagi, together with Mouri Kogoro, suggested taking Jiro around the festival to glean information about the incident that had happened.

Conan stayed and investigated the area around the booth while Suzu surreptitiously stalked him. The boy was an interesting specimen to her. In spite of his age, he was one of the sharpest people she had ever laid eyes on. She readily prepares her camera on her right hand and kept Conan under her scrutiny.

Beika Park was thronged with running children and watchful parents. There were lots of litter strewn everywhere on the snowy ground. The cleaners of Beika Park would surely have a massive headache just by the looks of it. It would not only be a tedious chore for the cleaners but to Conan too; the finding of clues was impeded by all the contamination.

In all the cases that Conan has solved, the scene of enormity – whether murder or assault – have been, in the general run of things, all taken place at unremarkable, secluded area. Conan thought to himself that the perpetrator must have been awfully confident of its modus operandi.

He stooped down low and tip-toed his foot up high to discern any clue. Suzu made sure she did not miss a shot as she has her fingers on the camera button tenaciously.

Suzu had never before seen such a kid with such meritorious discerning mind. Not once but a few time already – counting from the time they first met – have he demonstrated his efficacy.

Is he really a child?

Unbeknownst to the girl at his heels, Conan continues to squint at every material that was on the ground. From the corner of his eyes, he caught glimpse of an object reflecting the sunlight. He shifted his head left to right to catch the reflection again. And there he spotted it: ten o clock to his left. He rushed towards it and stoop down.

It was a fairly oversized silver drop earring adorned with ostentatious crystals as big as a fish eye. Conan tried to find the second of the pair but it was futile.

Conan scrutinised the jewellery he acquired once more. He took out a one yen coin and tapped it on the silver, followed by using his handkerchief to rub the silver. He then intently stared at the crystal. Afterwards, with his nimble fingers, he played around with the earring and he finally positioned it towards the sky.

Conan's train of thought was then interrupted by an unforeseen voice, "Is that thing real?" Suzu enquired as she sauntered towards him.

Conan hefted the earring in his hand and responded pensively, "This is a real 925 sterling silver: 92.5 percent pure silver and the rest of some kind of alloy, typically copper. I tested it by tapping a coin onto the metal surface and it produced a lovely ring. However, this test is not entirely credible, whereas if I use a cloth to rub the silver, and a black mark is to be seen, it is an evident pointer that it is a bona fide 925 sterling silver."

"I don't get it," said Suzu, quite embarrassed to be unable to grasp Conan's long train of explanation.

"925 sterling silver oxidises to the oxygen element in the air; this is the main reason why silver jewellery tarnishes over time and takes on a black tinge to it. That black tinge is silver oxide. The experiment I did showed me black marks so it is bona fide."

"Interesting," said Suzu, but Conan was not done yet. He continued, "And the crystals adorned with the silver, it is real too; in fact, it is a diamond."

"How so"

Conan repeated his earlier experiment to demonstrate to Suzu and said, "If you place the diamond under direct light, various shades of grey would show up." And true enough, Suzu saw it.

"But what relevance does this have to the case?" Suzu asked.

"I'm not sure myself. Nevertheless, it was lying on the floor and no one has yet to pick up something as ornate and precious as this; giving me an indicator that the person who carelessly lost this lost it just moments ago."

"We should show it to Jiro, perhaps he might recognise it," said Suzu hopefully.

Suzu was now really suspecting the true intellect of the boy after his brilliant exposition, and her curiosity got the better of her as she let her burning question slip from her mouth, "How do you know all these stuff, Conan-kun?"

Conan nervously laughed and as artless as he could be, he said, "I learned a lot from television, and of course, from Uncle Kogoro!"

Suzu was not very satisfied with his answer. She wanted to probe for an elucidation, but she hesitated and decided not to. And Conan was grateful for that.

When both of them were about to find Takagi and company, they saw a person in black skulking around Teitan Fried Chicken's booth.

"Hey! Isn't that the 'Black' person that Jiro was referring to? All dressed in black in a place full of live and colour – that person is even wearing a black sunglasses!" said Suzu as she taps on Conan's shoulder.

"What are they doing back here?" Suzu asked. "They already have Jiro's mother – what's the point of coming back to the apparent scene of the crime?"

"They must be looking the evidence that they have accidentally abandoned – probably one that would inculpate them," said Conan as he stows the earring into his pocket. When he saw that the man was retreating, his voice raised and said, "He's getting away! Miss Suzu, go call Officer Takagi and Uncle Kogoro!"

Conan cannon through the crowd and went out of Beika Park. There he saw the man getting onto a grey truck. Conan looked around and saw a taxicab coming to view. He hailed the taxi.

"Uncle, follow that grey car!" said a very flustered Conan, and the cab driver, although staggered by the little boy's desperate enjoin, accelerated to pursue the grey truck.

Conan's never gave his eyes a chance to blink for the fear that he might lose track of the truck. It was only until his phone rang that be blinked his eyes. He picked up the call, and from the other end of the call, sounded a raucous, man voice, "You devilish brat! Don't lose track of the person and where are you?"

"Uncle Kogoro, I'm in a taxi and we're heading towards Haido City. Wait – we're stopping – the guy has pulled over at Haido City Hotel."

Conan paid a random sum to the taxi driver, and with steady feet and sharp eyes, he shadowed the person into the hotel. The bellboy greeted Conan but he had no time to pay heed to that.

The person in black was soon wary of a follower, and his steps became calculative and slow. The person covertly took a gander at the back of his tracks – Conan quickly hid behind the pillar closest to him – he only saw happy tourists and exasperated businessmen.

When Conan was assured that he could take a look back to the person, the person was already gone. Conan skimmed all over the hotel's lobby and caught sight a fleeting shadow rushing towards the lavatory.

As Conan was going in, a cleaner with its trolley swooshes pass him. Conan saw that the cleaner had it face all covered up. When he went inside the toilet and saw a black sunglass recklessly deposited on the ivory marble flooring, he immediately went out to find the cleaner.

Instantaneously, with a swift tap on the power enhancing shoe, and on the anywhere dispensing ball belt, the soccer ball inflated out of Conan's belt, and he kicked it with minimal but precise exertion, and the power that hit the man was so powerful it made the person go into a temporary unconsciousness.

 **ll**

Upon arrival at Haido City Hotel, Officer Takagi saw Conan with an unconscious man dressed in black. Takagi's eyes stretched wide open. Conan told him the situation and Takagi mechanically cuffed the man up.

Officer Takagi brought everyone to a lounge room at the hotel. And once Takagi shows the man to Jiro and he had a good look at the man, he exclaimed in full recognition, "That is the person who took mommy away!" The man face turned blue, and then he frowned and shook his head to the boy. It looked almost as if he was telling the boy that he should say no.

"Don't try to deny! The boy clearly recognises you!" Mouri Kogoro snapped. The man spat indignantly and said, "He is mistaken, he could have seen anyone else!"

"NO! I know I saw you; you had the glittery thing on your ear!" said Jiro inexorably as he pointed to the man's silver ear stud. The man immediately covered his ears, but Takagi swiftly swings his hands away to inspect the small, silver earring.

"Are you sure this man was the man?" Suzu genially asked Jiro.

"I cross my heart – Jiro memory is the best; I can remember anything!" Jiro said unhappily as though everyone had turned their backs on him.

"What do you have to say to that?" Takagi said to the man. The man abashedly faces the other side to avoid any further pointing fingers at. Takagi persisted on and asked, "What is your name? It is a simple question – I'm sure you can answer that"

The man hesitated but under the glare of furious Takagi, he shyly said, "Edamame Shimpei." Jiro started bursting out into a convulsion of laughter. Suzu couldn't help herself either as she failed to hold back her laughter. Takagi now was standing still trying to remain professional. Edamame looked like he was about to kill a person, and Mouri Kogorou did not help to make the matter better when he ejaculated, "E-edamame – pods of soybeans? What kind of name is that?"

"You got a problem with that?" said Edamame, with his displeasure clearly ruffled.

"Calm down, Mr E-edamame – we just want to ask a few questions," said Takagi, trying to alleviate the tension. "But to cut things straight, do you have any idea where Jiro mother is?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, officer," denied Edamame. Takagi pressed on and said, "If you don't tell us, we might charge you for felonious assault, and you will be imprisoned." His tone then changed into inducement, "But if you tell us the truth, your sentence might lighten."

The man thought for a moment and sighed, "Alright, alright, I'll tell you everything. I was hired by this man online. He said that he will pay me handsomely if I did the job he wanted me to do. So I did whatever he wanted. His order for me was to go to Beika Park today and kidnap the lady with the big earrings." He tut-tuts in chagrin and said, "that man said the plan was full proof, and there won't be any police involved."

"Where is the lady now?" Takagi reiterated.

"The plan has failed; I don't see why I shouldn't disclose it to you. I brought the lady to the man's room; room number 503."

"I should call the headquarters," said Takagi as he takes out his phone, letting Mouri Kogoro take over. "What does the man want to do with her?" Mouri Kogoro enquired.

Edamame eyes twitched and said, "Who are you, man? Are you a policeman too?"

"I see I am late to introduce myself," said Mouri Kogoro, full of self-possession, "you might have even of heard me from the news – I am the famous detective, Mouri Kogoro."

"T-the great Mouri Kogoro?!" exclaimed the man, "No wonder the plan was a fail – nothing can really escape the eyes of the great detective." Mouri Kogoro smirked in delight.

 _And who's the one who had found the man – me_ , Conan thought to himself.

Soon the police arrived and were ready to proceed to room 503. Conan followed them as Suzu remained behind with Jiro.

First thing Conan realised was that room 503 was neither the usual single nor double room but instead a suite. The second thing he found out was that the door was locked and bolted from inside. They had to call the person in charge of the keys to unlock the door. And it was not enough; a pipe was also needed to sever the door's bolt.

Once inside, they were appalled to find two unmoving bodies on the floor – one male and another female.

"This is horrid," mumbled one of the police officers.

 **ll**

"Wasn't this supposed to be a kidnapping case? How is it now that the assaulter and the victim are both dead," said Inspector Megure standing in the middle of the scene with forensics and detectives thoughtfully examining the area. "What in the world happened?"

Takagi, sensing his duty, started imparting a concise and distilled account to the event that had happened before the body was found to the Inspector. Megure nodded his head in understanding then his face turned sympathetic.

"That poor boy; now that his mother is gone…" said he, commiseratingly.

But things took a turn for the worst when one of the other investigators approaches Megure to report his findings. That man said, "The women's identity is Eguchi Manami, 39, socialite, and the male is Eguchi Ryosuke, 67, CEO of Eguchi Production."

Inspector Megure took note of the similar surname, and asked, "Are they related?"

"Not by blood; they are married couples," replied the investigator while looking at his notepad.

"Wait a minute, if the male victim was the husband of the female victim, doesn't it make him the father of the boy – Jiro? This is terrible news," said Takagi with a heavy heart.

"The boy definitely will have a hard time accepting this fact," said Inspector Megure. He looked about the room to find the little boy but the boy was nowhere to be found. "Where is the boy, anyway?" he enquired.

"He is with Miss Suzu in the lounge room downstairs," replied Takagi.

"Suzu – where have I heard this name before?" Inspector Megure stroked his chin.

"You don't remember Iseya Suzu? She was one of the main suspects in the Death by Carbonara case just yesterday," Takagi reminded Inspector Megure.

Inspector Megure let his mind travel, remembering about carbonara, and it jogged up a face of a young girl with striking grey eyes. He made an 'aha' noise. "Oh! How could I forget? Such a coincidence that she is here too," said he.

"Talking about coincidence isn't it the most interesting thing that whenever and wherever there is a case, there will always be the same people snooping around?" said Inspector Megure, eyeing at Mouri Kogoro and Conan in suspicion. "Mouri, you really do bring death wherever you go do you?" Inspector Megure breathes out in disbelieve.

"Don't be like that, Inspector Megure. It is my job as a detective to unravel all this kind of cases," said Mouri Kogoro, sounding like a student who had failed miserably in the class of humility.

"So, ' _Great Detective_ ', have you solved this case," said Inspector Megure, not expecting anything. Mouri Kogoro then found it difficult to gather words into a sentence. "I guess that is a 'no' from you."

Conan stooped to the body and studied it. The female had the same earring on the left side of her earlobe as the one he had found at Beika Park. Her eyes were wide opened, hands floundered and body rigid from rigor mortis. He discerningly noticed that her hair was unusually messy with bobby pins discreetly peeking through her unkempt bleached-blonde hair.

The male, on the other hand, had gouts of blood from his head and bruises on his forearm. Conan's eyes trailed the blood splatter and discerned a vase a good three feet away from the body. He seemed to have died in a more violent manner.

"Inspector Megure," an investigator called out, "the results are out: the male had an immediate death by a severe blunt force trauma to the head, coupled with other minor blows to his arms, and in the female stomach, the forensics found large doses of cyanide. Time of death for the male is 11:35 in the late morning and the female is 12:22 in the afternoon."

This drew confusion from the room. The room was thick with frowns, hums and haws, and the cranking of the brain.

"I got it – I know what exactly happened!" Mouri Kogorou broke the silence and grinned with his nose up high.

"What is it this time, Mouri?" said Inspector Megure with little sense of attention.

 **ll**

Suzu was itching to know what had happened in room 503. Was it the journalistic job of hers to be nosy at every occurrence, or was it the sheer inclination to know the truth to the very bewildering case?

She had wanted to follow Mouri Kogoro and Conan when they rushed into the lift with the other policemen, but Mouri Kogoro had clearly instructed her to stay with Jiro in the lounge room.

Suzu had to entertain the boy, and Jiro was soon jaded, and he, in no time, dived into the land of Nods. He was sound asleep. Should she leave the boy in the room with the police officer outside the door? It was an opportunity for Suzu to satiate her burning curiosity, but she thought it was unfair to forsake the little boy. Suzu vacillated upon which was of more importance.

"The boy has the police officer to guard him, so he should be fine. And I won't be that long – just for a while and I will be back before he wakes up" said Suzu, convincing herself before walking towards her course of destination.

She ascended up the hotel and with some difficulty of locating room 503; she finally saw the yellow police tape. Murmuring officers and camera snapping could be heard from the outside of the room. She was horrified to see two bodies on the floor as still has a statue. She had only expected to see the kidnapper arrested and Jiro's mother saved.

Room 503, as she noted, was a palatial and extravagant suite, but with the bloodied floor and dead bodies, all the beautifulness of the room was taken away from it. The room was stagnant with the miasma of death, and so void of life – it made her stomach drop.

The voice of Mouri Kogoro sounded through the open door. Suzu collected herself and strained her ears to catch what he was saying.

"The female victim struck the man on the head, and saw that she had killed him, she took the poison out of guilt and committed suicide," said Mouri Kogoro.

"That will explain the locked-room mystery," Inspector Megure said, causing Mouri Kogoro to smirk endlessly.

"But why to kidnap the lady?" continued Inspector Megure.

"Maybe she was the one who planned everything out to commit the deed of killing her husband," said Mouri Kogoro.

"But the kidnappers were hired by the male victim, Eguchi Ryosuke, according to his accomplice who he hired," Conan remarked.

"T-that," Mouri stuttered, unable to think of an answer, and said, "– you brat, don't get in the way of the police!"

"Conan-kun is right, Mouri. This entire case is very confusing," said Inspector Megure.

"If the lady was kidnapped and she was bounded, how did she unbound and attack the man? And why did the man want to kidnap the lady in the first place?" Conan thought to himself.

He roamed around and suddenly, he tripped onto himself when he heard a loud ringing. Conan got up and searched for the ringing sound. He then looked at the sofa. He approaches it and the ring got louder. Conan stooped and using his handkerchief, he unselectively swept the underneath of the sofa. After a while, his hand knocked onto a solid. He took it out carefully. It was a handphone.

"Uncle Kogoro!" he motioned Mouri Kogoro, "look at this – it's a handphone," said Conan, handing the still ringing handphone over to Mouri Kogoro.

"How do you off this infernal ringtone?" He pressed random buttons and the ringing stopped.

"What is happening here," Inspector Megure joined Mouri Kogoro and Conan. He took a look at the phone and said, "This is new; the forensics team didn't find this."

With Inspector Megure's gloved hands, he inspected the phone. He scrolled through the last call list and exclaimed, "Look! There were callers before the time of the death of the victims – Takeo Tsugahara and Koide Isamu."

"Takagi, call these two persons, and bring them over here," said Inspector Megure calling out for Takagi.

After a while, two strangers walked past Suzu with Takagi into the suite room. Suzu took the chance to slink in with them. She discreetly went into a corner and monitored the situation.

Koide Isamu and Takeo Tsugahara proved to be a person of total different personality. Koide Isamu, 57, money loaner. He was slovenly dressed with the top buttons not buttoned and was accessorised with a tawdry golden necklace. Even his teeth were of golden. His height was petite, yet he exudes confidence. Takeo Tsugahara, 38, CEO of a small business firm. He wore a neat suit, professional glasses. He stood the tallest in the room, yet his muted attitude made him the least noticeable.

Suzu noticed that as both of them entered the room, they wandered around it and started touching things.

"Please don't touch anything in the room. It will contaminate the scene," Officer Takagi reminded them and led them to the bodies.

When both of them saw the body, Takeo broke down and said, "No; this is not happening," while Koide insouciantly said, "Tsk, his death will only cause trouble to me – how am I supposed to get back my one million yen now that he's dead."

"O-one million yen?!" Mouri Kogoro eyes balled out so much so that the veins of it could be seen.

Inspector Megure purposefully harrumphed and questioned the two men, "Excuse me but what was both of your relationship with the victim?"

"That bastard was in debt and solicited me two months ago for money," Koide said scornfully, and added in a much more angered tone, "and that bastard didn't return me the money."

"And you – Takeo Tsugahara?"

"He was my benefactor when I first started my business. He helped me so much. I can't believe he is dead now," said him, eyeing on the body draped with white cloth.

"What a load of baloney! That guy never had the money!" Koide expressed disapprovingly.

"What were you discussing with Mr Eguchi this morning when you called him," Inspector Megure directed to both of the men.

"Obviously, we had a nice chit chat," Koide rolled his eyes and continued, "I hounded that man to give me the one million yens back like how I do every day."

"I was talking to Mr Eguchi about our next big project: a joint between Eguchi Productions and Gaken Enterprise," said Takeo.

"What do you think, Mouri?" asked Inspector Megure.

Suzu shifted her eyes to the little boy in a blue suit wandering around the scene in the same fashion as he did during the Death by Carbonara case. He was then intensely staring at a fallen cup.

Conan observed the cup that rolled off the floor one foot away from the female victim, he then asked Mr Tome, who was beside him collecting evidence, "Mr Tome, is this the cup that the victim drank from?"

"Yes"

"What is in it?"

"It is concentrated glucose"

"Not water?"

"No"

Suzu eyes followed Conan's withdrawing figure into the kitchen, which she could not see him from. In the kitchen, Conan immediately saw glucose packets. He rummaged through the cardboards and saw more glucose packets and sugar sachets. Suzu then saw him coming out of the kitchen and he was roaming through the entire suite with a serious countenance. He then walked up to the two newcomers.

"Mr Takeo, did you notice anything weird when you were having the conversation with Mr Eguchi on the phone?" Conan enquired. Takeo replied, "Not at all; he sounded the same."

He proceeded to ask the same question to Koide. The guy, with an irritable expression, said, "That fellow kept saying that he'll give me the money very soon. Saying that he'll be making big bucks. What a baloney! It turns out he's dead before he got that 'money'."

"Any other thing – like something off with his speech?" urged Conan

"Hmm, there was a static sound, but it could have been just me," said him, unsurely.

"I think we can conclude that it was the wife who killed him and that she proceeded to commit suicide," said Mouri Kogoro to Inspector Megure, who was agreeing with him.

Conan hastened. He quickly hid from everyone's view and aimed his tranquillizer watch to Mouri Kogoro's neck. The man floundered and slumped onto a chair.

"Wait a minute, Inspector Megure. This case is not done yet."

"The great Mouri Kogoro is back!" exclaimed Takagi, which got the attention of Suzu. Indeed, there she recognises the great Mouri Kogoro sitting slightly askew on the chair with an inscrutable expression. At that moment, she also lost sight of Conan.

"But Mr Mouri, the case is already solved," said Takagi.

"No, it is not, and I will not let the culprit escape just like that," said Mouri Kogoro.

"What? The _true culprit_ , you say?" Inspector Megure questioned him.

"Yes, and if you could, please gather the three suspects: Takeo Tsugahara, Koide Isamu and Edamame Shimpei," said Mouri Kogoro. Takagi gathered the three men around him.

"Now, I will start from the evident facts. First of all, the kidnapping incident; Mrs Eguchi was assaulted by Edamame," Edamame flinched, "as ordered by Mr Eguchi. Mr Edamame, did Mr Eguchi instruct you to kidnap Mrs Eguchi when she was with her child?"

"No, he just told me to take away her. Wait a second, he did say, 'the lady should also have a child beside her' if I recall correctly, but there were so many ladies with a child by their side," said Edamame.

"Was that also the reason why he told you that the lady also wore an over-sized drop earring?" asked Mouri, and Edamame nodded to him.

"Hold on, Mouri – what is this about the drop earring?" Inspector Megure questioned. "Oh yes, it is about this – Conan, show Inspector Megure the earrings," Conan placed back his bow tie and took out the earrings from his pocket, handing it carefully to Inspector Megure.

Inspector Megure keenly eyed at the shiny object, "This is the same as the one that the victim had. Where did you find this, Conan-kun?"

"It was on the ground of Beika Park," said Conan cheerfully. "You did a good job," Inspector Megure patted on Conan's head. Conan then resumed his previous location.

"That shows that Mrs Eguchi was kidnapped indeed kidnapped at Beika Park, and together with the corroborating fact that we found Mr Edamame red-handed it is undeniable," said Conan with Mouri Kogoro's voice.

"Tsk, it's only because he wanted me to return there so that there will be no evidence left behind," said an annoyed Edamame.

"Well, all this has nothing to do with us does it?" said an impatient Koide, staring at his gaudy gold watch. "I agree with him; I'm a very busy man," said Takeo.

"Don't be so impatient – hear me out, I'm not done yet. The second fact is that the supposed mastermind of this entire ruse, Mr Eguchi, was found dead in this room together with his wife – the supposed victim. The sequence goes like this: after Edamame successfully kidnapped Mrs Eguchi, he handed it over to Mr Eguchi to take charge. Before Mr Eguchi's death, who is the first of the two to die, two phone calls came in one after another. The first caller was Koide the second was Takeo. The first call lasted for approximately five minutes, while the other three minutes. Straight after the calls, Mr Eguchi was struck on the head," said Mouri.

"I got it!" exclaimed Takagi, "While Mr Eguchi was distracted by the phone calls; Mrs Eguchi took the chance to escape from the handcuff and struck him with the vase. But how did she unbound from the handcuff?"

"You will find some hair pins beneath Mrs Eguchi's hair," said Mouri. Takagi sped to the body. Very delicately, he raised the victims head and saw several hair pins. "I've found it!"

"But does that not just tell us that Mrs Eguchi was the one that killed Mr Eguchi and committed suicide – we are back to square one," said Inspector Megure.

"That is where we were wrong on; Mrs Eguchi did not commit suicide by deliberately consuming cyanide," said Mouri, earning him gasps from the inspector.

"Mr Tome has collected that the poison was laced the liquid that Mrs Eguchi consumed. Upon investigating what the liquid was, it appeared to be concentrated syrup. More accurately it is glucose syrup," said Mouri Kogoro.

"She could have preferred a very sweet liquid –" said Takagi but was intercepted by Mouri Kogoro.

"I do not think that anyone who has set out to poison themselves would actually care to prefer the type of drink they want, for that they are already determined to take their life away.

"I also realised that in the kitchen there were many packs of sugar and tins of glucose. Not only that, every nook and crannies of this big hotel suite had a bowl of sweet. I then concluded that someone that lives here was a hypoglycaemia," said Mouri Kogoro.

"Oh, you mean people that have a deficiency of glucose in their bloodstream?" asked Takagi.

"Exactly, and the fact that Mrs Eguchi's drank the cup of glucose it would be clear that it was her who had hypoglycaemia. With all these evidence and premise put together, it concludes that Mrs Eguchi did not commit suicide but instead be poisoned by someone else." Conan turned his head and looked at the three men standing with an incredulous expression plastered on their faces.

"Oi, you can't be serious, can you? The only thing I did was call Mr Eguchi," Koide burst in indignation.

"I too called Mr Eguchi only, and I have nothing to do with this case. If there is anyone you want to hold accountable, it should be that man," Takeo pointed at Edamame.

"Hmm," Mouri said in a speck of amusement, "How did you know Mr Edamame, Mr Takeo? Correct me if I'm wrong but is this not your first time meeting Mr Edamame?"

Takeo paused like a rabbit caught in the headlight. His heart was palpitating and cold sweat was forming on his forehead.

"I-I overheard your conversation," Takeo adamantly expressed as he stuttered.

"Here is my conjecture to what Mr Takeo had planned," said Mouri, "You were the mastermind of this entire unfortunate event. Everything was premeditated. You gave Mr and Mrs Eguchi each a very different yet similar plan to kill each other."

Takeo went as still as a statue; his eyes wandering everywhere else but not the police; hands clenched so tightly as if he were holding on for his life.

"I do not know what your exact words were to them but I got the crux of the matter to what you had conveyed to them. You had known from the start that Mr and Mrs Eguchi had antipathy towards each other and you exploited that fact. You told Mr Eguchi a perfect plan to finish off Mrs Eguchi, but what he did not know was that Mrs Eguchi had worked with Mr Takeo on that particular plan. She was, indirectly, the one who suggested kidnapping herself. Mrs Eguchi plan was to have her husband kidnap her, so he would be culpable for a crime, and when they were in the hotel, she would attack her husband passing it off that it was for self-defense."

"Are you saying that Mrs Eguchi did all that to frame her husband?" enquired a bewildered Inspector Megure.

"Yes."

"No; you have no proof. It is all groundless conjecture. I know nothing of Mrs Eguchi's plan –" Conan, through the voice changing bow tie, interrupted Takeo and continued with his theory, "You knew that Mrs Eguchi hypoglycaemia was chronic, and you knew that even with a little strain she would need sugar. So you prepared a couple poisoned glucose packets. She poured it into the cup, brought it to the living room and eagerly drank it."

Unable to compose his anger, Takeo stripped out of his neat, professional look to a messy, furious dog. He barked at Mouri Kogoro, "IT IS ALL CONJECTURE! YOU HAVE NO EVIDENCE!"

Inspector Megure concerningly looked at Mouri Kogoro, and said, "Are you sure you are correct, Mouri?"

"Mr Takeo, it was you who deliberately put the alarm of Mr Eguchi's phone. It was so the police would call you into the hotel as a suspect. But why did you want to return back to the hotel when you had already finished the job?"

"Because he left something in the room that would incriminate him, in another word, concrete evidence that would be unassailable to his actions," Suzu voiced out from the tense room.

Takeo's breath hitched, and his breath became haggard and slow.

"Mr Koide, you said you heard something staticky when you called Mr Eguchi, right?"

"Yea"

"That was due to the listening device that was in the room," said Mouri.

"What? Takagi, go and search around the room for the listening device!" said Inspector Megure strictly, but was interrupted by Mouri, "It is no use Inspector Megure; the culprit had already retrieved all of it when he came into the room."

"Takagi, do a body search on Mr Takeo." Takagi went over to a resistant Takeo. Soon enough, Takagi found what he was looking for.

"Here are the listening devices," said Takagi, handing two devices to Inspector Megure.

"But Mouri, why does he need to plant these listening devices?"

"He couldn't let any slip let out. Mr Takeo is a punctilious and methodical man – he couldn't let his plan flop. He needed to know that both of his victims were indeed dead. He needed evidence to show his plan was a success," said Mouri.

Takeo dropped on his knees and said, "How did you know it was me? Was it just because of the listening bug? "

"I was already suspicious when I first saw the call log on Mr Eguchi phone. Mr Koide could have been the suspect too but when the investigators found out the duration of the calls, I knew it was you. Why would a man as punctilious and methodical as yourself, have such a short conversation on something as important as a company joint. That told me that you called not because you want to discuss business but because you had to so that you could distract Mr Eguchi."

"Just because of that?" Takeo laughed hysterically as he thumped his hand on the floor. "Both of the Eguchi were insane. One a materialistic and selfless hag and the other a deviant fraud; the man worked to embezzled my company's fund and even tried to frame me for misconduct just because I was seen having a night out with my colleague. And that lady – she took all the money for her stupid hedonistic lifestyle. All they wanted was money!

"Of course, I let them go, but when I overheard their conversation early this week, I was resolved to kill them. I found out that the company joint that Eguchi was pushing for was just merely a façade to dominate my company and oust me out. I couldn't forgive them. It was a perfect plan; they kill each other off while I just listen from a distance."

"I still don't get why you had to perpetrate the kidnap in such a crowded area," Megure scratched his head.

"He did not want the little boy to go through the mishap alone. He wanted people to be in his care when his mother was being taken alone," said Kogoro, in a tone of empathy. "And the boy was smart enough to make his way to my office."

"Yes; he is a good and bright boy, unlike his parents. He did not deserve the parents that he had – so dishonourable they are." Takeo's face transitioned quickly from grim to proud to repugnance. "He did mention several times when I was playing with him that he was a fan of this one detective that solved the Kamen Yaiba murder case. I guess that detective was _you_."

 **ll**

"I have yet again outdone myself in this case!" Mouri Kogoro chortled at his accomplishment. "I'm feeling real good about this one today. Why not I treat you all to dinner? Afterall, Ran is still busy with her karate training." He glanced back to see an unimpressed Conan and a desolate-looking Suzu.

"What's the matter, Suzu-chan?" Kogoro reached out to her.

"I can't believe both Jiro's parents are both dead. And the look on his face when Takeo was taken by the police, it was so heartbreaking. Jiro had always enjoyed Takeo's company, and now that he is also gone..." Suzu confessed with an expression of desolation spread across her face.

"He committed a sinful crime - if a person had committed a murder, it is irretrievable and if he were to walk on this earth with bloodied hand, it would do Jiro no good," said Kogoro thoughtfully, much to Conan's surprise.

"Yes, you are right," said Suzu.

"Would Suzu-chan join us for dinner, then?" Mouri Kogoro asked.

"I would like to," said Suzu as she fidgeted and she continued with an imploring tone, "And I really need to have a discussion with you in private if you have the time."

"We can do that after dinner," said Kogoro blithely, just happy that dinner was not spent alone with Conan.

 **ll**

"Suzu Iseya," she repeated her name with each letters flowing out maliciously from her tongue.

 **TBC**

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━━━━ **Suzu's Food Feature** ━━━━

Today's special food feature is _fried chicken with creamy and tangy tartar sauce_. There are many ways to enjoy a good chicken. However, the best method to prepare chicken is, of course, deep frying it. Suzu especially enjoys the crispy chicken skin. She also mentioned that dipping it with a good tangy sauce like tartar or tomato sauce would elevate the eating experience.

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 **Thank you Notes: Big thank you to _Intimidating Cupcakes_ , _PurpleSnow10_ and _KudosForShinichi_ for your review. **

**Your encouraging reviews made me so terribly happy. It also encouraged me to set the game straight - things like telling myself, "Hey! There are people reading your stories; make sure you write this properly. And you better not get lazy writing! Your grammar is as dreadful as your future - this is your chance to salvage yourself so don't go off embarrassing yourself."**

 **I confess, writing this chapter was no easy task as I kept making obvious plot holes and making Conan sound like a sanctimonious know-it-all who can't wait to express his brilliance. The amount of time I had to rewrite this chapter was incredible.**

 **Bottomline, I do hope all of you enjoyed this chapter as much as the previous one.**

 **The same goes to my followers: _Intimidating Cupcakes_ , _OwOEXO_ , _PurpleSnow10_ , _The Pearl Queen_ , _memoriesofkagome_ , _my-chan1325_**.

 _You are all very kind._

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 **P.S.** The phrase _"_ _ **As always, premise gives you validity but not the entire truth"**_ is entirely made up on a whim.


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